Approval
by songsofthestars
Summary: Izzie's friends decide that it's time for them to check out the new man in her life. IzzieDenny IzzieCristinaMeredith Friendship and IzzieGeorge Friendship. ONESHOT.


A few notes- I can't remember if the characters have ever worked late at night/early in the morning, I hope that's not too implausible.  
Rereading this, I think I gave a bit of my Denny fangirlness to the characters :P  
I know, it's very convenient that Alex has such different hours- I didn't know what I'd write for him if he was in it. Oh, and for those of you who read the nurses's blog for the show, the nurse Cristina mentioned is indeed supposed to be the one whotalked about D/I in the blog

Disclaimer- I do not own GA. Obviously.

* * *

"That's not a word!" 

"Yes it is!"

"It's a word in the dictionary?"

"Yeah…probably. If it's not, it should be, so it counts anyway!" Izzie said firmly, trying to keep up her competitive façade. It only worked for a moment, before she thought about how ridiculous she sounded, and burst out laughing, causing Denny to start chuckling too.

"So you concede?"

"Okay, so _maybe_ it's not in the dictionary. I'll let this one go, it's not like I need it," She teased, as Denny sighed dramatically and nodded.

"You only tried that because you couldn't fit in a medical word this time. This is why people say you should never play scrabble with a doctor, isn't it? I need to shape up, or you're going to think I'm just a pretty face."

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with just being a pretty face- why do you think I'm interested in you?"

"Hey!"

"Sorry, I forgot. It's actually because, as you said, you're well off," She teased.

Denny laughed, and she grinned playfully. She was about to say something else when her beeper suddenly went off. Groaning, she unclipped it, and saw she was being paged. She sighed, and looked at Denny apologetically.

"I'll be back as soon as possible." He waved her off.

"Go, save lives. I've been monopolizing you lately." She shrugged, smiling.

"I like being monopolized," He flashed her a grin, and as usual, she found it irresistible.

She leaned in, gave him a quick kiss, and quickly left to the pit. She walked into the room and frowned, not seeing anyone. She was about to step outside when Cristina and Meredith suddenly came running up to her from the hallway, practically lunging at her.

"What are you doing!" Izzie shrieked, jumping in surprise.

"When do we get to meet him?" Meredith asked eagerly, ignoring her.

"Meet who?" She snapped, still annoyed by their ambush.

"Uh uh," Cristina admonished. "You're the one who gets all defensive about being called Dr. Model, so you don't get to play dumb."

"I seriously don't know what you're talking about!"

"Oh. Sorry."

"I'll explain," Meredith offered. "So, you get a new patient, Denny. You then start acting distant from Alex, while spending more time with Denny, and talking about him when we're all hanging out. Then, you break up with Alex, start spending more time with Denny than ever, and are the happiest we've ever seen you. Obviously, you fell for Denny, and we want to meet him and give the friend seal of approval. We've barely even seen him, and we haven't talked to him"

"Don't you guys have something else to do?" Izzie asked, unnerved by their stares.

"You think we would have bothered topage you down here if we had something better to do?This place has been so quiet tonight, it's driving me insane. What I wouldn't give for someone to come stumbling through those doors, bleeding from an open chest wound…" Cristina trailed off, staring at the entrance wistfully. She snapped out of it after a second, and turned back to Izzie. "Stop dodging the question. Can we meet him?"

"Well, yeah, but why are you so eager to?"

"Because we want to make sure he's good enough for you!" Meredith told her.

"Because we're bored!" Cristina exclaimed at the same time.

"You just have to promise not to treat it like an interrogation."

"Of course we won't," Meredith reassured her.

"Right. So, let's go stake him out for a minute before we make our move," Cristina said eagerly, heading in that direction. Izzie and Meredith rolled their eyes, and followed after her.

"Hey, guys?" Izzie began unsurely, as they walked to Denny's room. "Not that I'm not grateful for it, but why aren't you making a big deal over me breaking the rules?"

Meredith and Cristina glanced at each other and laughed slightly.

"We can't exactly talk about following the relationship rules of the hospital, can we? And, I can't give any details, but I heard that the chief operates on people close to him, so I don't think he'll judge" Cristina pointed out. "Just watch out for that one nurse, the scary one. She keeps giving you weird looks."

"Plus, we all know that you know what your limits are. You'll take yourself off the case if you feel like you can't do your job well because of your feelings, and it's not like you've made any mistakes so far," Meredith added.

"Exactly. Burke knows, and that's why he's okay with it," Cristina mentioned.

"Wait, Burke knows!" Izzie cried, panicked.

"He just has a feeling! Besides, he's fine with it."

"Well, if you're sure about that…"

"Chill, Tinkerbell, I am."

"Oh, we're here," Izzie said suddenly, coming to a quick stop as that walked into the hallway right before his room.

"Okay," Cristina said, her tone determined. "You spend every free moment you have with the guy, so you know him pretty well. What would he be doing while he waits for you? Anything that would have him facing the window, or can we peek without him seeing? And we still need a cover story!"

"Cristina, you're not doing reconnaissance! And to answer your question, he's usually reading or writing."

"Oh, is he a-"

"Meredith, shh!" Cristina snapped, holding her finger to her lips. Izzie giggled, but Meredith nodded gravely. Izzie just shook her head.

Cristina and Meredith looked at each other, nodded, and scooted closer to the edge of the wall, very slowly and cautiously peeking their heads around the wall for a look. Izzie felt the urge to crack up laughing at how strange they looked, and it didn't fade until they pulled back.

"Aw, you gave him that sweater you made when we were all knitting together," Meredith cooed.

"I actually had him in mind the entire time I was making it," Izzie admitted with a blush.

"Yeah, this is touching, now what about that cover story?" Cristina demanded.

"If we just space our visits out, we can say Burke asked us to check in on him while Izzie was doing rounds, since I don't think he knows that Burke isn't actually here," Meredith offered.

"Good plan! Okay, you go in first, I'm still figuring out what I want to ask."

"Alright."

"Remember-"

"No interrogations, Izzie, I promise. I'm sure he's great, I just want to be sure. I'll be back soon!"

Meredith walked in, a bright smile on her face, and introduced herself in her usual manner. Outside the room, as Cristina seemed to be calculating, Izzie tried to listen in. Unfortunately, the acoustics in the hospital were complete crap, so she grabbed her book to add in a few notes from her rounds earlier that day.

"Don't forget Mr. Kavitz having that coughing fit." Izzie's head shot up when she heard Cristina's voice.

"I thought you were planning!"

"I am, I'm planning and looking over your shoulder at the same time. It's a gift."

"Stop it, it's weird!" Cristina rolled her eyes, but did what she asked.

About 15 minutes later, Meredith stepped out of the room. Izzie looked up from her work and saw a bright smile on Meredith's face. Grinning, she pulled herself up off the floor, and the three girls started walking down the hall away from the room, to guarantee Denny wouldn't hear them.

"You liked him, right?"

"He is the sweetest guy I have _ever_ met!" Meredith marveled. "And he's so happy and optimistic, how endearing is that?"

"So that's a yes?" Izzie laughed.

"A huge yes. I approve whole heartedly," Meredith told her, smiling.

"Thank you," Izzie said seriously.

"And you know what? I really think he's in love with you."

"What!" Izzie shrieked unexpectedly, coming to an abrupt halt.

"Oh…he hasn't told you that yet?" Meredith winced.

"No, can't say he has!" Izzie said, her eyes wide, and voice screeching a little.

"Well, um, isn't this a good thing?" Meredith asked, desperately trying to calm her down. "Isn't it a good thing, Cristina?" She glanced to her side, and saw Cristina snickering at the stunned look on Izzie's face. She hit her on the arm, and quickly turned her attention back to Izzie. "And, I mean, is it really a surprise? Based on what you told us about how he is with you, I just assumed you knew!"

"Well, of course it's good, but it's…it's just so _soon_! I just broke up with Alex and admitted how I felt about Denny _yesterday_! And, and, I, uh, I mean…he hasn't been here that long, and it's….soon!" Izzie stammered.

"Izzie, believe me, it happens a lot sooner than you'd think," Meredith said quietly, her eyes now downcast.

The other two girls, immediately getting what Meredith was talking about pushed back their feelings of shock, in Izzie's case, and amusement, in Cristina's case, for a moment, and were about to comfort their friend when all three girls were beeped.

"Finally!" Cristina blurted out, having the good grace to look apologetic before hurrying off, Izzie and Meredith not far behind.

* * *

About an hour and three patients later, they all met up where they parted ways. Meredith appeared to have pushed back the painful memories, and Izzie, though clearly still freaked out was trying to hide it, and obviously didn't want to talk about it yet, so Cristina was pretty sure it was okay to ignore their problems. 

"My turn, right?" She asked eagerly.

"You still want to?" Izzie asked, surprised. "I thought you just wanted to meet him earlier because you were bored with no patients."

"I did. But now Meredith has talked him up, ands I'm curious. You know, want to see if he lives up to his hype."

"Oh my God, Cristina…"

"I'll behave!"

"Fine, go."

Cristina walked off to Denny's room, and Izzie and Meredith leaned against the wall to wait for her.

"So, what did he do exactly that made you say that? Unless you don't feel like it's your place to tell me, because that's okay. But if you can, it'd really be helpful," Izzie rambled.

She started talking again before Meredith could answer, and Meredith shut her eyes, leaning her head back. This was going to be a long fifteen minutes.

* * *

"Am I annoying you?" It was fifteen minutes later, and Cristina still hadn't returned. 

"No, Izzie-"

"There she is!"

Meredith opened her eyes, and saw Cristina walking down the hall, a serious expression on her face. Izzie couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive. It was hard to make a good first impression on Cristina sometimes, and she really wanted all of her friends to like Denny.

"So?" Izzie asked wearily. Cristina eyed her for a moment,

"Izzie…if you ever break up with him, I will kill you."

"I'm so relieved to hear you say that!" Izzie sighed, breaking into a grin.

"How great is he?"

"Very!"

"He needs a nickname, he deserves one. Mc what?"

"Yeah- wait, what? _What_?"

"What?"

"No, no nickname!"

"Why not?"

"You don't see me trying to Mc your boyfriend!"

"Yeah, I guess that's fair," She muttered disappointedly.

"Oh, so he's your boyfriend?" Meredith asked interestedly, catching that. Izzie froze.

"I don't know…it's kind of soon to know that."

"Is there anything about your relationship with him that isn't to soon to know about?" Cristina deadpanned.

"I'm sorry, guys! It's just moving fast in a relationship has never worked well for me before, and I _really_ want this to work," She said softly.

"Well, then what are you still doing out here with us? Get back in there!" Cristina demanded.

"Well, now I can't, you guys got me all freaked out!"

"Come on," Cristina said firmly, grabbing her arm, pulling her back towards Denny's room.

"What if I say something stupid because I'm so distracted!"

"Izzie, you just have to calm down and stop analyzing this," Meredith advised, trotting alongside Cristina and Meredith. "If it feels right, just let what happens happen."

"Maybe that's easy for most people, but I have hard time just going with the flow, I always want to talk about it, and figure out where we're going and-"

"We're here! Denny, I found her for you!" Cristina announced brightly, as she shoved Izzie into the room

"Oh, uh…thanks?" Denny called after her, confused, since he hadn't actually asked Cristina to find Izzie. Of course, he was still happy to see her, and he gave her a loving smile.

When Cristina shoved her into the room, Izzie had still felt a little scared that she was going to do something stupid, or act oddly around him because of what Meredith told her. But now, seeing how he looked at her, and feeling herself smile back without even thinking about it, as she felt a sense of warmth spread throughout her, she realized that Meredith was right. Why did she have to analyze this? Being with Denny made her happy. And it was a good thing that he loved her, why should time even be a factor? Afterall, she had said the day before that she was falling for him, and she meant it. Shaking her head slightly, she suddenly felt ridiculous for ever worrying. This just felt _right_, and that wad the only thing that should matter.

"So, how did I do?" Denny asked. Izzie had been in the process of lowering herself down onto the bed next him when he asked her that, and suddenly froze up.

"Um…how did you do what?" She asked lamely.

"Izzie, I _know_."

"I'm really sorry, they just-"

"Oh, hey, it's fine. I just want to know if I passed," He grinned. Izzie laughed.

"With flying colors," She assured him, finally lying down next to him. "How could you not?"

"Well, I am very appealing."

"And modest to boot!" Izzie smiled, resting her head on his shoulder. After a minute of comfortable silence, she shifted slightly so that she was glancing up at him, but her head was still on his shoulder.

"Denny?"

"Yes, Izzie?"

"Thank you."

"For what?" He asked gently, a little surprised.

"For making me feel happier and more at peace than I have in a long time."

Denny tried to come up with an appropriate response, but for once, found himself at a loss for words. Instead, he just pressed a kiss into her hair, and quietly murmured, "Same goes for me."

* * *

George was in the locker room when the door flew open, and Meredith and Cristina walked in. George smiled at Cristina, who nodded at him in turn, and Meredith glanced at him hesitantly. George offered her a friendly look, and Meredith looked surprised, but in a pleasant way. 

"What are you guys still doing here? I thought you and Izzie would have finished your eighty hours by now."

"Oh, we just did. We're about to leave, but Izzie's probably going to stay with Denny," Meredith told him. He nodded.

"So, anything interesting happen?"

"Well, we engaged in a rousing round of 'Make sure Izzie's new boyfriend is a good guy.' Wanna play?" Cristina asked.

"Always. So, Denny's her boyfriend now?"

"Uh, sort of. We think so," Said Meredith.

"Okay then…so, I have a few patients to check on, and there will probably be some new arrivals, but then I want to go meet this guy. What did you guys think?"

"Oh, he's great," Meredith said enthusiastically.

"Yeah, he really is. Just do me a favor, George, and try not to cheat on Burke while you're in there, he'd be really broken up over that."

George smiled good-naturedly and threw a wad of paper from his locker in her direction, as she and Meredith laughingly bid him goodbye and headed out the door.

* * *

Two hours later, he finally had a little free time, so he headed up to Denny's room. He had never thought that Alex was good enough for Izzie, and he felt like he had been proven right. That was the last thing he wanted to happen again, so he was glad he had a chance to check this guy out. Reaching Denny's room, he pushed the door open and walked in, his head looking down at his clipboard with Denny's information. 

"Hi, Denny, I'm Doctor…" George trailed off as he looked up.

Izzie and Denny were asleep on the bed together, Izzie's head on his shoulder, Denny's arm draped across her shoulders. What really caught George's eye, though, was that even in her sleep, Izzie was still smiling slightly. He still wanted to talk to Denny, but he had a feeling he was going to like him.

He tried coughing slightly to wake her up, but it didn't help. He coughed a little louder, but there was still no change. Finally, he whacked her foot. Izzie startled, waking both her and Denny up. She blinked wearily a few times, before finally noticing George. When she did, her eyes flew open, and she scrambled off the bed.

"George, hi! Hi. Here to check on Denny, I assume. My 80 hours are up, huh? Well, I guess I'll just go to the cafeteria," She stammered nervously, quickly squeezing Denny's hand and leaving the room.

"She's great, isn't she?" George asked casually, carefully gauging Denny's response. "Clearly high strung, I'll give you that, but great!"

* * *

George walked into the cafeteria, first glancing at his pager, to make sure there were no patients to attend to, and then scanned the room for Izzie. Quickly spotting her, he hurried over. 

"What do you think?" She asked immediately.

"Why couldn't you have just met him before this whole Alex debacle? Now that is a guy you should be dating! Although, you might want to be careful about PDA for now."

"I know, continue."

"Okay- he's crazy about you, and he clearly makes you happy, that's what you need."

"So, you like him?"

"Yeah, I do."

"That means a lot to me." He smiled at her, and she returned it. "So," She began in a teasing tone. "Heard you and the hot Ortho doc have something going on."

"You could say that."

"You realize that I will have to make sure she's good enough for you and give her my approval, right?"

"Right…let's just make sure I don't scare her off first."

"Fair enough."

Just then, George's beeper went off.

"Whoops, gotta get back to my patients."

"I'm going to say goodnight to Denny before I go get some sleep. Bye, George."

"Bye, Izzie."

He watched her go for a second, and noticed she had a spring in her step, and was bobbing her head slightly, most likely humming to herself, and he smiled. Denny definitely had his approval.


End file.
